Customer Reviews

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Penguin Classics)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a fourteenth-century travel book telling us of the English "Sir" John Mandeville's real or imagined adventures in the East. The first part deals with the land of Egypt and the second with "the lands beyond" -. But did he actually ever leave England?? Did this Knighted author actually exist? Was he French? We'll never know, but this volume is a thorough compendium of medieval mythic lore, which he artfully blends in collage-form (very much in the fashion of the allegedly "post-modern" writing), which would be a great success throughout Europe for centuries to come. One of these pleased readers would be Christopher Columbus, who here fed his imagination on the passion for distant travels!

Together with this book I recommend the popular VOYAGE OF ST BRENDAN by Benedeiz, an earlier, twelfth-century text about the adventures of an Irish monk who never got tired of looking for fantastic islands on his tiny boat. The anarchy and imagination of the Middle-Ages always seems more fantastic when we read the original medieval authors directly.

This is a medieval best-seller for all.

Sir John Mandeville was an Early-Renaissance writer of travel tales similar in content and style to his famous near-contemporary, Marco Polo. But history has judged these two men quite differently: whereas Marco Polo has become a household word, synonymous with bold explorations, Mandeville has been largely forgotten. But it was not always so.

During his lifetime, and for a couple of centuries afterwards, Mandeville was by far the more famous of the two. A copy of Mandeville - but not Polo - was in the possession of Leonardo da Vinci. More telling, about 300 manuscripts (hand-written copies) of Mandeville survive, compared to only about 70 of Polo.

What accounts for Mandeville's reversals of fortune?

Mandeville (or someone calling himself that) wrote his book about 1356, or shortly thereafter. Its original tile was "The Voyages and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight," but is now generally known as "Travels of Sir John Mandeville." Polo's book, originally titled, "Descriptions of the World," came out about 1300. Whereas Mandeville wrote his book himself, Polo used the services of a professional writer, Rusticello, who in turn based the book on Polo's notebooks. (Mandeville is the better written.)

Standards of what constitutes a historical/geographic work have greatly changed. Both books -- but especially Mandeville -- contain a fascinating pastiche of facts (often distorted), impressions, opinions, and utterly fantastic claims. Reading Mandeville today, one is left with a bewildering farrago of National Geographic and supermarket tabloids.

As the Age of Exploration progressed, reliable geographic, historic, and economic data came to be more highly valued than fantastic tales. Since Polo's book was found to be the more reliable its reputation increased. Mandeville, on the other hand, came to be seen as a "teller of tall tales," a kind of Baron Munchhausen.

Indeed, today many historians question whether the man "Mandeville" really existed. Most believe that the person who wrote "Mandeville" never actually traveled to the placed he describes, and obtained his material from other sources. He took the identity of "Sir John Mandeville" to bolster his credibility. (Recently there have been attempts to "rehabilitate" Mandeville.)

What is their relevance today? Except in a narrow historical context, I would say that Mandeville is definitely the more interesting. What Mandeville lacks in historic and geographic accuracy, he more than makes up by his insight into what continually fascinates mankind - both then and now. A considerable portion of Mandeville can be fairly equated to today's Elvis sightings, or to the woman from Ohio who has the spaceman's baby. We are too immersed in our contemporary world to clearly see what is behind such phenomena; but looking back at Mandeville's world our vision greatly improves. Consider:

Mandeville tells of a society in which women often have snakes in their ...uhm...private parts. In order to protect themselves their men hire the services of professional "testers." As absurd as this all sounds, could Mandeville actually be describing some venereal disease?

Another example: could the various human monstrosities described by Mandeville (people with dog's heads, etc.) have modern counterparts in television's Star Trek?

The Penguin book would be improved by additional maps and illustrations -- unfortunately this would increase the cost.

Sir John Mandeville was an English knight who wrote about his "travels" to the Holy Land, the Great Khan's Court, and other exotic places between 1322-1356. Other than his name, not much is known about John Mandeville to the extent that historians are unsure he traveled at all (one particularly glib person writes that he farthest John traveled was to the nearest library!). With the uncertainty regarding the veracity of such a basic fact the question arises - is John Mandeville's "travel" narrative still important? The answer is a resounding YES. Firstly, his work was more popular than Marco Polo's "Travels" (300 manuscripts of John's work survive in comparison to 70 of Marco's). Leonardo de Vinci had only one travel account in his massive library, Mandeville's. Columbus and Frobisher had Mandeville's text in their possession. Secondly, Mandeville's work was profoundly influential and authoritative in its time (really until the re-discovery of the new world etc). So why is the historical veracity of his travels questioned despite the fact that multiple travel narratives to China exist? (A while back I reviewed a volume of these concerning the Mongol Khan's court under the Title "Mission to Asia" for those interested). Most of the "proof" concerns his occasional blatant inaccuracies and fanciful tales of monsters. The author of the introduction points out that none of Mandeville's historical / geographical / biological inaccuracies prove that he did not travel but "equally it is not possible to dismiss his claim entirely" (13). Likewise, perhaps most importantly, "if this man did not travel at all, our opinion of his literary ability must be higher" (13).

Deespite its exact place as a travel narrative or piece of imaginative (and brilliant) literature this work was a cornerstone and authoritative piece on geography. Long sections of the text describe places in relation to other places - the many routes out to and from Jerusalem - different ways to the Khan's court - descriptions (often hilariously fanciful) of the kingdoms outside his lands. Mandeville "was a serious writer; his book was as accurate and up to date an account of the knowledge of world as he knew hot to make it" (14). Even more interesting to the reader is Mandeville's descriptions of the people he "meet" and their religions. He is remarkable correct and impartial in his descriptions of the main tenants of Islam, Jacobite Christians, and Jews and how they differ from the tenants Catholicism. Later editions of his work added the normal Medieval prejudices and condemnations against non-Roman Christians and drastically changed Mandeville's narrative voice. Mandeville also argues through out that hypocrisy and corruption run rampant the Christian faith (he suggests that this might be one of the reasons Christians were unable to hold Jerusalem during the Crusades). Mandeville is by far one of the most tolerant Medieval minds!

The introduction to this volume is masterful. C. W. R. D. Moseley describes the surviving manuscripts, Mandeville's sources, the questions I addressed above, the sources literary qualities, and its popularity in the Medieval and post-Medieval world. Even if historians later prove that the author never traveled or no further facts emerge supporting either position, Sir John Mandeville's Travels is a vital source for understanding the Medieval perception of the world. This is a fascinating and FUN read and definitely worth while (but read the Introduction first to place it in the correct context). Highly recommended!

Unfortunately one is directed from the Penguin edition of the book to the kindle digital edition without a clear notice that it is not the same book. The work may be the same, but it lacks the 40 page introduction, and appendix. Also, it is not the same translation. It's a bit frustrating that the book is advertised as the penguin edition when it is not. I find it particularly odd for amazon to do this since when one is looking at a book's preview (Look inside!) one is always told when the book shown is not the same as the one advertised if that is the case.

An important text regarding a 14th century european traveling east for holy pilgrimage. In the tradition of Marco Polo but often devolving into fantastic and imaginative descriptions of places, animals and people that are less than accurate. Interesting to sample the 14th century european unterstanding of the world. Note this Dover Publication version is abridged.

I have to be honest and say that I had never heard of this work, at least so far as I can recall, until I found a used copy of it in the bookshelves of my local Goodwill. But I'm very happy that I found it! The text is fascinating in its own right as it presents us with the perspective of an Englishman of the 14th century looking at, examining, and perhaps actually exploring the wider world around him, including a great diversity of cultures and geographic locations. This makes it interesting as both a historical work -- a real firsthand perspective that touches on these interesting topics -- and also a study in psychology and sociology, as we view his views of these various cultures. The work is, as I learned through the introduction and notes which accompany this addition, also important for the effect it had on European thought in the years leading up to and somewhat after the discovery of the Americas by Europeans. I recommend this book to those with a love for history and culture.

Author: Jehan de Mandeville
Title: The travels
Time: 1322-1356
Destination: some of Europe, Africa and Asia
Length: 34 years
Type: overland
Rating: 8/10
The real Baudolino

The story: Much like Marco Polo before him or Johann Schiltberger shortly after, or Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuda at the same time, JDM also claims to have traveled around much of the known (and unknown) world of his time. Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, China - you name the place, and he almost surely can tell you a story about it. And while his historical persona is still subject to scientific debate, most of his descriptions are even more fantastic and incredible than the ones by his contemporaries.

You can probably already tell that I found this book a lot of fun. To me, it felt like a blueprint to some of the core elements of Umberto Eco's 2000 novel Baudolino", which I thought was awesome. Within JDM's account, there are even descriptions of those weird people who have only one leg and one huge foot, and they can extend this foot above their heads as a sunshade. Cool stuff!

Obviously, this is not a travelogue, but rather a mixed work, and it cannot be understood as a pure recount of JDM's personal experiences. Instead, it is a representation of the mythical world that Medieval people thought might be out there.

And as such, it is highly entertaining.

8/10

If you are looking for a nice, collectible version of this book, then this version is not for you. The book itself is rather plain with no back cover description. This is due to the publisher trying to save costs and thus pass the savings on to the consumer. In that respect, I can appreciate that. I didn't read the entire book. I bought it for a research paper I was writing on Prester John. I believe it does contain the Travels of Sir John Mandeville in its entirety. It was very useful for my paper and it will make a nice edition in my library for future use. So if you need the Travels for practical reasons, then I do recommend this product.